MKV + H.264 issues.

Angeteen · Post by **Angeteen** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:29 am

I've got a .mkv container that is using a H.264 codec, the only problem is while playback is fine, whenever I want to edit it there is an obvious slow down with Premier. Since these slowdowns happen everytime you either click on a different part of the timeline or move forward/backwars a few frames, editing can become a real hassel.

If anyone has any ideas on what I can do to get around this please let me know. I've already tried using mkvmerge, virtualdubmod (the file was said to have some problems), SUPER, and a few miscellaneous file converters. The results? Blocky, terrible quality, the usual host of complaints. I seriously need some help here, so any kind of help would be appreciated.

Kevmaster · Post by **Kevmaster** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:40 am

It's no wonder a codec like h264 slows down your computer. Only Suggestion is can give you is to try the bait and switch method (using LQ files to edit and once you're done, you switch em with the HQ ones).

Angeteen · Post by **Angeteen** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 7:55 am

I have no idea what you just said. ^_^;

How would I use a bait and switch with low quality and high quality. I'm more familar with using various conversion programs to take care of all the needed work, and then just tweaking it occurding to my needs.

LivingFlame · Post by **LivingFlame** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:40 am

Bait and Switch method.

Though, what did you use to open the MKV file in Vdub? Because it should convert fine out of Vdub.

Angeteen · Post by **Angeteen** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 8:51 am

I just go to File -> open when choosing the .mkv file. I get some error message about a frame at stream 1 only has a forward reference. I suspect that the reason that the .mkv file won't work in vdubmod, is because of the h.264 codec. I used MKVextract, an yes, the file extension was that of a h.264.

I'm all out of optons; I'm currently trying to convert it to a .mpg, and then am going to try a second conversion to get it to a .avi. The only problem? Loss of quality.

Angeteen · Post by **Angeteen** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:40 am

This is going to sound like a silly question, but if I were to use SUPER, and set the container as .avi, but the codec as MPEG II, would this come back to bite me? I'm just wondering, because that seems to be the only way that works, and get a some-what small file size (small as in less than half a GB).

kenzuka · Post by **kenzuka** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:23 am

Why don't you open your mkv file with avisynth in Vdub? That's always what I do, and do not have any problems like that. Well, you must kill the audio in avisynth since .aac sound file do not work in Vdub.

With that, you can directly put avisynth filters if you need it and export your scene in lagarith or huffyuv with Vdub.

Angeteen · Post by **Angeteen** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:48 pm

The reason I don't do it is because any time I load an .mkv file into it, I get an error as described above. While I can take a look at the streams, if I attempt to play the video, the entire program will crash. Also, as for Avisynth, I've never had any experience with it, and seeing as how I can't find it in any of drop-down menus, I suspect it's a completly different program.

Also, from what I've already gathered, it involves scripts, something I'm not good at. Put more simply; VirtualDub/Avisynth is all completly new to me.

leahzero · Post by **leahzero** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:54 pm

Angeteen wrote:I'm all out of optons; I'm currently trying to convert it to a .mpg, and then am going to try a second conversion to get it to a .avi. The only problem? Loss of quality.

Before you degrade it like that, try another encoding program that supports both MKV and AVI, like Avidemux.

Angeteen · Post by **Angeteen** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:21 pm

I tried using it, however this time things were worse, since I couldn't even see the screen this time. Also, yes, it was due to some h.264 problem again. If I could just find a good way to convert a h.264 -> .avi all should work out just fine. The only problem is that I'm having little success in that area.